"Over the Cliff" by Crooks and Liars bloggers John Amato and David Neiwert is, so far, a bit of a slog -- it's rehashing a lot of what I know in a dry and judgmental way.

2

People forget that Sean Hannity was informing viewers of Barack Obama's "radical ties" long before Glenn Beck hauled out a chalkboard. Conservative Victory puts Hannity back in the Obama-bashing vanguard.

3

Mark Lilla's "Tea Party Jacobins" is the first meditation on the movement that seems to have struck a chord.

Earlier Wednesday, I asked DSCC chairman Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) what exactly had happened in the South Carolina primary, where paper candidate Alvin Greene -- a 32-year old unemployed veteran who paid a filing fee but did no campaigning -- upset the party's choice.

"We take our efforts and time in the states where we have the greatest calculus of being able to engage and win," said Menendez, "so we weren't engaged in South Carolina. But I think one story out of South Carolina is the volatility that exists out there, where you have someone who spent no time and no effort on a campaign, and that guy could win. That shows the nature of the campaigns out there."

Not long after that, the South Carolina Democratic Party discovered that Greene was facing felony charges over having allegedly shown obscene material to a college student. Carol Fowler, the party chairman, has talked to Greene and asked him to quit the race. As of right now DSCC has not responded or signed on to the South Carolina party's request.